


Mary has run away and John asked Sherlock to help

by Hey_there_bud



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: John Watson is a Bit Not Good, Mentioned Mycroft Holmes, POV Greg Lestrade, Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25124494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hey_there_bud/pseuds/Hey_there_bud
Summary: Mary has run away with Emma, John's daughter, barely a month after she was born. John asked Sherlock to help, and obviously he agreed. Fast forward through three weeks of pointless detection to a late night in Scotland Yard where tensions finally come to a tipping point.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Mary has run away and John asked Sherlock to help

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Giveaway Fic #4 - Coffee Shop/Mary Has Left/Sherlock Is Not Okay](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7186844) by [ConsultingPurplePants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingPurplePants/pseuds/ConsultingPurplePants). 



> Hey everyone! Thank you for clicking on the story. It's a short ficlet inspired by ConsultingPurplePants, so check them out too. This is unbeta-ed and un-brit picked, so I apologize for all the mistakes in advance. Anyways, hope you enjoy :)

Lestrade was too exhausted to do anything except watch as Sherlock looked through the evidence files (for at least the tenth time). Everyone in the room seemed to be at about the same fuel level. Donovan and Anderson were half asleep against one wall, John was barely awake in the far corner, Lestrade was barely on his feet, and even though he showed no signs of slowing down, the bags under Sherlock’s eyes were visible to anyone who observed. 

Two months ago Emma Watson was born. Three weeks ago, her mother ran off in the middle of the night, taking Emma with her. The next morning John told Sherlock what happened, and of course he had taken the case immediately. 

That leads them to now. Sitting in Scotland Yard, at 3 am, going over the lack of new evidence. John was brooding in the corner. Lestrade could tell the man was on edge. Had been on edge since the disappearance, really, but the late hour seemed to bring him nearer and nearer to the tipping point. 

In contrast, Sherlock seemed to be the epitome of calm. Even with Donovan and Anderson in the room. He wasn’t insulting anyone’s intelligence, he didn’t argue when Lestrade said he couldn’t let him examine the evidence in Scotland Yard without him there to supervise, he never even sent sideways glances when Anderson offered (characteristically idiotic) suggestions. 

The dramatic change in behavior would make some think Sherlock was in an especially good mood. However, Lestrade knew the lack of energy spared for insults or glares screamed volumes to the consultant’s stress. He wasn’t frustrated, no. But he was exhausted. Bags under his eyes showed how little Sherlock had been sleeping, and it was clear he wasn’t eating much either. Both of these were common with the man while on cases, but it seemed this one in particular was destined to drag on. Lestrade made a mental note to get Sherlock to eat later. 

Finally, he set down the file. Lestrade, Donovan and Anderson sighed with relief. It meant they would get to go home. John shot out of his chair. 

“Did you figure it out?” He asked. 

“Not yet, John. Mary was clever, she covered her tracks. Go home, sleep and we’ll start again in the morning,” Sherlock said. 

John, stubborn as ever, retaliated: “If you don’t need sleep, I don’t either. Where are you going?” 

Sherlock attempted a don’t be obvious look, but it was half-hearted and interrupted by a yawn. “I’m going to Baker Street to sleep. Everyone-” he gestured around the evidence room, “ here is exhausted. To find them we need brain power.” 

At John’s skeptical look, he continued: “We will find them, John-”

“When?” John spat. His face suddenly turned furious. Eyes like daggers, stabbing mercilessly into Sherlock’s being. 

Uh oh, Lestrade thought. Tipping point.

“Because this has been going on for three weeks now, Sherlock! There are missing persons cases you have solved from the sitting room, without even leaving your flat! Now you can’t find my wife and daughter after three weeks!”

At this point Lestrade attempted to intervene. However, it’s difficult for a human to stop a boulder barreling downhill. 

“You can’t do this for me? This one thing? After you were gone - after you left - for two bloody years, you can’t solve the case that will bring my daughter back?”

Sherlock outwardly stayed silent and calm throughout John’s tirade. Lestrade had half a mind to escort him out of the room. Damn that it was John, Sherlock was on the edge of breaking and that wouldn’t be good for anyone. 

“Mary knew you would come to me, and thus planned to avoid my detection. We are trying-” 

“Then bloody act like it!” John was stepping closer to Sherlock now, and Lestrade moved to be closer to them both. Donovan and Anderson watched from their position. “Because so far you’ve failed to trace her out of London, let alone to wherever she is now! She’s probably getting further away every day, and you can’t be arsed to find her first move!” 

“John-” 

“QUIT INTERRUPTING ME!!” the man erupted. 

There was a brief pause where everyone stood stunned. John looked Sherlock square in the eyes and finished in a low voice, “Maybe if I hadn’t asked a freak for help, Emma would be back by now.” 

Lestrade found his own tipping point. 

“Get out,” he growled. 

“Greg-”

“It’s Lestrade, and get out before I have to escort you.” John looked between Sherlock, whose face and shoulders had fallen, extrapolating the bags and hurt his eyes held, and Lestrade, who was giving him the sternest glare he had ever received and pointing at the door. 

The gravity of what he had said sunk in at that moment. John turned back to Sherlock and began to reach out to console him, but Lestrade grabbed roughly by the arm and dragged out the door. 

Once they were out in the street Lestrade threw John away from him. His fury had only grown from the evidence room to the front door, and as a result his voice came out terrifyingly quiet. 

“Look, Watson.” John moved to make eye contact with Lestrade. He at least had the heart to look guilty about what he had done. “Sherlock won’t ever say if you talk to him, he’ll just let you storm into Baker Street and destroy him again. But I guarantee you,” Lestrade pointed at the CCTV cameras, “Mycroft will know about this by the morning if he doesn’t already. Neither he nor I are afraid to intervene if you go even in that general direction. 

“The man you just broke has done more for the both of us than you can ever imagine. So get your shit sorted before you ever think of coming back here for help again,” Lestrade took a deep breath. “I hope you realize what you just lost.” 

John swallowed, nodded, and turned toward the tube station. Lestrade turned the opposite direction and reentered Scotland Yard. 

When he reached the evidence room it was empty. Donovan, Anderson and Sherlock were all gone, as was the Mary Watson/Emma Watson missing persons file.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! If there were any glaring mistakes please let me know in the comments, and I urge you once again to check out ConsultingPurplePants and all their work. Have a great day :)


End file.
